Compliance with pressure garment use in burn rehabilitation

Pressure garment use is recommended 23 to 24 hours a day for hypertrophic scar control after a burn injury. Compliance with this treatment has not been documented. A 52-question survey was administered to 101 adult outpatient burn survivors to rate compliance with this program. The average compliance of each patient was assessed. The framework of the Health Belief Model was used to identify the patients' beliefs and factors reported to interfere with compliance. Strategies patients believed to enhance garment use were identified. Forty-one percent of the patients reported total compliance. The difficulties with garment use such as discomfort and activity limitations appeared to promote low compliance. The primary strategies patients believed would enhance compliance were seeing outcome pictures of scars and having contact with other survivors. This step toward identifying compliance rates and factors that affect them will guide the health care worker in techniques to facilitate adherence to the scar management program.